Single Wager Multi Round Blackjack Game

ABSTRACT

A method of playing a card game is disclosed wherein receiving a first wager from a player to play standard blackjack against a dealer; receiving a second wager from a player to play a secondary game; dealing an initial hand of cards to the player and to a dealer; dealing additional hit cards to the player to complete the initial player hand; checking the player&#39;s initial final hand total or score to see if it qualifies for the secondary game.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to card games. Moreparticularly, it relates to a secondary wager which will play incombination with standard blackjack out over one or more consecutivestandard blackjack hands which is suitable for virtual and traditionalcasino play and similar environments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blackjack is a game that has become old and stale in the eyes of somewhich has lead to the development of several new games and wageringoptions that may be added to the game and are known as side wagers. Sidewagers are optional wagers placed in combination with another base gamewager like that of blackjack. Side wagers allow a player to place otherbets along with their standard blackjack wager, making the combinationgame more exciting for all involved. Some side wagers may offer maximumpayouts that reach as high as 1000 to 1.

Side wagers for blackjack include several variations, all of which playout over the course of a single hand. An example of a side wager game isone where a player places a wager in hopes that they receive a pair ontheir first two cards. Another blackjack side wager game allows a playerto place a wager in hopes that their first two cards will total twenty.These types of wagers are becoming much more prevalent on gaming tablescurrently found in casinos.

All known Blackjack game variants feature a wager that is resolved afterevery hand or round of play. There is yet to be a game that offers aplayer the ability to place a wager on a combination Blackjack game thatwill play out over several successive hands, creating more excitementfor less money, until now.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to create a game with anassociated pay table that gives players a fair chance of success. Thegame to be described herein will offer low odds payouts for more commonoccurrences while also offering high odds payouts for more extreme orrare occurrences in return for a player's wager.

The game of the present invention is a secondary wager which may beplayed alone or in combination with standard Blackjack. This game willrequire a player to play several successive hands before their wager iseligible to win. The game may even require the player to six of moreconsecutive hands before their wager may be resolved.

To play the game a player will place a wager in the hope that they willachieve several different qualifying final hand totals or scores overseveral successive hands or rounds of play.

A qualifying final hand total or score will include; seventeen (17),eighteen (18), nineteen (19), twenty (20), twenty-one (21) and Blackjack(a two-card twenty-one), also known as the hand totals that will cause adealer to stand on their Blackjack hand. A hand that results in a bustor that results in a player standing (stopping) on a hand total or scoreof sixteen (16) or lower will result in a non-qualifying hand or result.

A player who wagers on this game will be looking to make a minimumnumber of consecutive final hand totals, scores or points which may ormay not include duplicate results and which may or may not keep theplayer wager alive and active. A hand that results in a bust or thatresults in a player standing (stopping) on a hand total or score ofsixteen (16) or lower will either be resolved and lost or be resolvedand paid if the player has previously acquired the minimum number ofqualifying final hand totals, scores or points before achieving anon-qualifying hand result.

The game of the present invention looks to create a secondary wager withan associated pay table based upon a minimum number of different finalhand totals or scores (which may also be referred to as points) thatwill be required by a player to win the game.

A player could win by achieving as few as three (3) or four (4)different points from among the six available before receiving anon-qualifying hand. Achieving as many as five (5), six (6) or six (6)different points in-a-row will qualify a player to win a much largerpayout.

The game may be played on any blackjack style gaming table using anynumber of standard or modified decks of playing cards or on anelectronic gaming platform using any number of standard or modifieddecks of simulated playing cards.

Pay tables may or may not include all or some of the following payoutsand may or may not include others that are riot contemplated below;

-   -   Six Points on six successive hands in a precise order (e.g. 17,        18, 19, 20, 21 and Blackjack),    -   Six Points in any order,    -   Five Points in any order,    -   Four Points in any order,    -   Three Points in any order,    -   Two Points in any order.

The game will feature a Progressive Jackpot, a simple pay table or acombination platform offering both payout options.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the present invention will become more apparent from thedrawings which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a single player position according to oneembodiment of the present invention, for the playing of a final handtotal, score or point matching game for use on a combination blackjackgame using one or more decks of standard playing cards, a standardblackjack wager spot 10, a secondary wager spot 20 and a set of sixqualifying final hand total tracking circles 30.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a table layout for the playing of a secondaryblackjack wager with six player positions 40, a dealer position 50 and adealer chip tray 60 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The casino game described herein will make reference to the casino gamelayout shown in FIG. 2. The term “casino game” is intended to encompassa game in which the house or the dealer acts as the banker on the gamecollecting all losing wagers and pays all winning wagers. The dealer isemployed by and represents the house or casino. The casino may be atraditional brick and mortar casino, an on-line casino over a networksuch as the internet or other virtual type casino. The game may also beplayed with mobile devices and technologies.

The dealer's position 50 is provided opposite the player positions 40and is preferably adjacent to a chip rack 60. The chip rack 60 is of aconventional design and used to store poker chips and/or other gamingtokens. The dealer uses the chip rack 60 to hold the gaming tokens thatbelong to the house. When a player loses his wager on this game, thegaming tokens won by the house are stored in the chip rack 60. When aplayer wins his wager on this game, the player will be paid from thegaming tokens stored within the chip rack 60. The layout in FIG. 2indicates the dealer position 50, the dealer's chip rack 60 and theplayer positions 40.

One embodiment of this invention is a combination game that is playedusing any number of standard decks of playing cards and may be played byup to seven players or more during any given hand or round of play. Anynumber of decks of cards may be used, but in the preferred embodiment,eight decks of standard playing cards are used or two alternating setsof eight decks of standard playing cards (of differing color) are usedand reshuffled at the completion of the shoe using an automatic shufflemachine. When there is not an automatic shuffle machine installed on thegame, the dealer will shuffle the eight decks deck of standard playingcards before restarting the game. If there is an automatic shuffler onthe game, the dealer will insert the most recently used shoe of cardsinto the machine for shuffling. The dealer will then remove the eightdecks of pre-shuffled cards awaiting deployment from inside theautomatic shuffler.

The term shoe refers to a device that holds several decks of cards whichshelters them from view until they are dealt to a player as part of astandard blackjack hand by the dealer. The shoe and the cards within mayalso take a virtual form that accomplishes the same function as thetraditional device and playing pieces.

The game is played on a combination blackjack game and combinesseamlessly into standard blackjack play without interfering procedurallywith the underlying blackjack game. The game may be played by as few asone person against a dealer on an individual gaming table within acasino or similar environment. The preferred embodiment will offer thegame as part of a combination game that also offers standard blackjackwagering.

The game of the present invention is a secondary wager for the standardgame of blackjack where a player wagers on the fact that they willachieve several different and qualifying final hand scores from amongthe six (6) qualifying hand totals or scores available. The preferredembodiment will use the qualifying final hand totals or scores ofseventeen (17), eighteen (18), nineteen (19), twenty (20), twenty-one(21) and Blackjack (a two-card twenty-one).

The game uses any number of standard decks of playing cards, and willpreferably use one, two, four, six or eight decks as these are the mostcommon forms of blackjack offered by casinos.

To begin, players may place a standard blackjack wager on the oval logo10 and/or a secondary wager on the smaller circle logo 20 of the presentinvention. Two cards are then dealt to the player face-up, and two cardsare dealt to the dealer, one face-up and one face-down as per standardblackjack protocol. Logos 10 and 20 may take any shape or form.

During play on this combined game, the secondary wager on the smallcircle logo 20 may only be resolved when a player achieves anon-qualifying hand result or when a player hits the maximum number ofpoints available (6) thereby completing the game. If the player choosesto play a standard blackjack wager as well, the hand will also be playedagainst the dealer and will be resolved once all of the player hands andthe dealer hand have been finalized.

The combination layout shown in FIG. 2 would be mounted atop of aconventional blackjack style gaming table in a casino. In the preferredembodiment, six player positions 40 are provided on a layout as seen inFIG. 2, but the number of player positions 40 can be varied depending onthe size of the table and the number of players that a casino wishes toaccommodate. A standard casino table layout like the one in FIG. 2 willaccommodate five to seven player positions 40.

Each player position 40 on the game is identical and offers each playertwo separate and distinct wagering options. These wagering options offera player two unique looking wagering spots 10 and 20 for which to placetheir wager(s). The wagering spots 10 and 20 seen in FIG. 1, allow thetwo games to be played simultaneously together during a single hand orseveral successive hands or rounds of play. The oval and circles in FIG.1 show one embodiment of the present invention illustrating a simplestandard blackjack wager oval 10, a secondary wager circle logo 20 and aseries of indicator circles 30 for recording outcomes over multiplehands for the multi-handed secondary wager of the present invention.Other themes are contemplated.

If a player chooses to stand (stop) with a final hand total belowseventeen (17) or the hand results in a bust, the hand is determined tobe a non-qualifying result. A non-qualifying result will end the gamecausing the player wager to be resolved (have it paid or taken) by thedealer.

If a number of successive blackjack hands achieve a minimumpredetermined number of different qualifying final hand totals or scoresbefore achieving a non-qualifying result, the player is a winner andwill be paid at the rate as posted on the pay table on the game basedupon the number of different qualifying final hand scores achievedduring the process.

In the preferred embodiment, the game will require a player to hit aminimum of four (4) of the six (6) different qualifying final handtotals or scores to be eligible to win the game. A player that does nothit the minimum number of different qualifying final hand totals orscores before achieving a non-qualifying hand will lose the game andforfeit their wager from within the secondary wager circle logo 20.

Overall player results that do not qualify against the posted pay tablewill see their losing wager taken from the secondary wager circle logo20 in FIG. 1 by the dealer and it will be placed into the dealer's chiptray 60 shown in FIG. 2. Losing side wagers will be taken once a playerachieves a non-qualifying result and has not successfully achieved theminimum number of different qualifying final hand totals or scoresrequired to win.

When a player hand busts, if a player is playing a standard Blackjackwager in the oval logo 10, the losing wager within the oval is alwaystaken by the dealer before resolving the secondary wager within thesecondary wager circle logo 20 which may or may not be a winner.

When a player hand busts, if a player is not playing a standardBlackjack wager in the oval logo 10, the dealer will resolve thesecondary wager within the secondary wager circle logo 20.

In one embodiment, when a player places a secondary wager on the smallercircle logo 20 without placing a standard Blackjack wager, the playerhand(s) will be dealt for them by the dealer (or virtual dealer) withoutallowing the player to have any input with regard to hitting or standingon a specific hand total. Each new hand, bonus hand or successive handwithout a standard blackjack wager in play will cause the player hand tobe dealt by the dealer using the dealer's “House Ways” guidelines,delivering cards to the player hand until it either hits a qualifyingfinal hand total or score of either seventeen (17), eighteen (18),nineteen (19), twenty (20), twenty-one (21) and Blackjack (a two-cardtwenty-one) or it busts by going over twenty-one (21).

If a number of successive blackjack hands achieve a minimumpredetermined number of qualifying final hand totals or scores before aplayer hand busts, the player is a winner and will be paid at the rateas posted on the pay table on the game immediately following thenon-qualifying result. A player that achieves all six differentqualifying final hand totals or scores without a achieving anon-qualifying hand result will win, receive their winning payout andcause the game to end.

Any qualifying payout that exceeds a dealer's responsibility and/orcasino protocol may need approval from supervisory staff before thepayout can be made to the winning player.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the casino gamecontemplated herein may feature a “progressive jackpot” which will stillrequire the player wager be placed in the secondary wager circle logo20. A player may or may not place a wager for a predetermined amount(e.g., one token) as set by the casino. The combined amount of each ofthe player's jackpot wager(s) placed during the round will see a portionadded to the corresponding jackpot along with a portion of all previousaccumulating wagers that make up the current jackpot that has yet to beawarded to a qualifying player.

If a player places a progressive jackpot wager within the secondarywager circle logo 20, the player becomes eligible to win a portion ofthe jackpot amount if the player receives a predetermined number ofdifferent qualifying hand totals or scores before achieving anon-qualifying result. For example, if a player receives six differentqualifying hand totals or scores in a specific order (lowest to highest)on six successive hands, the player would win the entire jackpot or 100%of the progressive jackpot. Other qualifying results could see a playerwin a percentage of the jackpot (e.g., a player achieving six differentqualifying final hand totals or scores could win 20% of the progressivejackpot. The series of outcomes that either qualifies a player to winthe entire jackpot or share in a percentage of it may be altered withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

The attractiveness of the jackpot wager is elevated by its progressivenature. At the conclusion of each round, losing jackpot wagers made onprevious hands are added to the previous jackpot amount thereby creatingan accumulating or “progressive jackpot”. When a player wins part ofthis jackpot, the amount won is subtracted from the total jackpot andany remaining jackpot will start compiling losing wagers until it is wonagain.

When a progressive jackpot is offered by a casino, the house willcollect a percentage of each wager placed, e.g., 3-5%, as the house'sfee for providing the progressive jackpot on the game. If the casino hasa plurality of tables which are full of players and several of them arewagering on the progressive jackpot, the jackpot total can increasequite rapidly to accumulate a substantial sum of money which willeventually be awarded to a winning player.

It is contemplate that the game noted herein may be played as a basegame or standalone game on a single casino style gaming table. Any formof counting may be used on the wager contemplated herein. Wageringshould be taken to include tokens, poker chips, currency, coins, or thelike, as means for keeping score.

Various adaptations and modifications may be made to the game withoutdeviating from the scope or intention of the invention. Any version ofthe game may be played using wagering tokens that do not have a monetaryvalue. Instead the players can bet, win and lose points so that, after adesignated number of rounds, the player with the highest point total canbe declared the winner which may be described as tournament play.

Adaptations or modifications to this game will be easily recognizable tothose skilled in the art. The inventions described herein should not berestricted to the foregoing description, but rather should becharacterized only by the following claims.

PAY TABLE—PAYOUT EXAMPLES

Qualifying Hand Totals Table 1 (6) Six-in-a-row (lowest to highest) 1000to 1  (6) Six in ANY order 100 to 1  (5) Five in ANY order 25 to 1 (4)Four in ANY order 10 to 1 (3) Four in ANY order  2 to 1 (2) Four in ANYorder  1 to 1 HOUSE ADVANTAGE: 6.98% NOTE: The math in the table aboveis intended as an example only and not meant to be accurate.

PAY TABLE—PAYOUT EXAMPLES

Qualifying Hand Totals Table 1 (6) Six-in-a-row (lowest to highest) 1000to 1  (6) Six in ANY order 50 to 1 (5) Five in ANY order 20 to 1 (4)Four in ANY order  8 to 1 (3) Four in ANY order  1 to 1 HOUSE ADVANTAGE:7.21% NOTE: The math in the table above is intended as an example onlyand not meant to be accurate.

PAY TABLE—PAYOUT EXAMPLES

Qualifying Hand Totals Table 1 (6) Six-in-a-row (lowest to highest) 1000to 1 (6) Six in ANY order  100 to 1 (5) Five in ANY order  25 to 1 (4)Four in ANY order   5 to 1 HOUSE ADVANTAGE: 6.74% NOTE: The math in thetable above is intended as an example only and not meant to be accurate.

PAY TABLE—PAYOUT EXAMPLES

Qualifying Hand Totals Table 1 (6) Six-in-a-row (highest to lowest) 1000to 1  (6) Six in ANY order 100 to 1  (5) Five in ANY order 25 to 1 (4)Four in ANY order 10 to 1 (3) Four in ANY order  2 to 1 (2) Four in ANYorder  1 to 1 HOUSE ADVANTAGE: 6.98% NOTE: The math in the table aboveis intended as an example only and not meant to be accurate.

PAY TABLE—PAYOUT EXAMPLES

Qualifying Hand Totals Table 1 (6) Six-in-a-row (highest to lowest) 1000to 1  (6) Six in ANY order 50 to 1 (5) Five in ANY order 20 to 1 (4)Four in ANY order  8 to 1 (3) Four in ANY order  1 to 1 HOUSE ADVANTAGE:7.21% NOTE: The math in the table above is intended as an example onlyand not meant to be accurate.

PAY TABLE—PAYOUT EXAMPLES

Qualifying Hand Totals Table 1 (6) Six-in-a-row (highest to lowest) 1000to 1 (6) Six in ANY order  100 to 1 (5) Five in ANY order  25 to 1 (4)Four in ANY order   5 to 1 HOUSE ADVANTAGE: 6.74% NOTE: The math in thetable above is intended as an example only and not meant to be accurate.

Pay tables on this game could be modified to include an envy bonus forplayers who are at the table and wagering on the secondary wager logo 20when another player wins one top awards from the pay table, acting muchlike an insurance policy for other wagering players. These additionalpayouts would be made to players immediately following the awarding ofthe larger payout to the player with the exceptional qualifying result.

Adaptations or modifications to this game will be easily recognizable tothose skilled in the art. The inventions described herein should not berestricted to the foregoing description, but rather should becharacterized only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of playing a card game, comprising thesteps of: (a) receiving a first wager from a player to play standardblackjack against a dealer; (b) receiving a second wager from a playerto play a secondary game; (c) dealing an initial hand of cards to theplayer and to a dealer; (d) dealing additional hit cards to the playerto complete the initial player hand; (e) checking the player's initialfinal hand total or score to see if it qualifies for the secondary game;and If the initial player hand total or score qualifies, recording theresult to remember the total or score achieved and providing the playerwith a first bonus hand or round of play following the conclusion of theinitial hand or round of play; or If the initial hand does not qualify,the player wager will be paid if the result meets the qualifyingstandard on the game; or the player wager will be forfeited if theresult does not meet the qualifying standard on the game; (f) dealingadditional hit cards to the dealer to complete the his standardBlackjack hand; (g) resolving the standard blackjack wagers that remainon the blackjack game for the current hand or round of play.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein said dealing an initial hand ofcards to the player, will consist of two cards dealt face-up.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein said dealing an initial hand ofcards to the dealer, will consist of two cards, one dealt face-up andone dealt face-down.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein saiddealing additional hit cards to the player to complete the player hand,may consist of any number of cards including zero, one or more.
 5. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein said dealing additional hit cardsto the dealer to complete the dealer hand, may consist of any number ofcards including zero, one or more.
 6. The method according to claim 1,wherein said checking the player's initial final hand total or score tosee if it qualifies, will require a player hand total or score to beeither seventeen (17), eighteen (18), nineteen (19), twenty (20),twenty-one (21) or Blackjack (a two-card twenty-one) to qualify and allother final hand totals or scores will result in a non-qualifying hand;7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said providing the playerwith a first bonus hand or round of play following the conclusion of theinitial hand or round of play, could further qualify the player for asecond bonus hand or round of play if the first bonus hand also achieveda qualifying total or score which was also recorded; and Which couldfurther qualify the player for any number of further bonus hands if eachsubsequent bonus hand continues to qualify without achieving anon-qualifying hand and without achieving the maximum number ofdifferent results required to end the game; and That could eventuallyend the game when a player successfully achieves the maximum number ofdifferent results required to qualify the player to receive a maximumpayout award without ever achieving a non-qualifying result.
 8. Themethod according to claim 7, wherein said if each subsequent bonus handcontinues to qualify, each qualifying bonus hand will be recorded beforedealing an additional bonus hand;
 9. The method according to claim 7,wherein said maximum payout award, could be paid for achieving a maximumnumber of different qualifying results; or It could be paid when aplayer achieves a maximum number of different qualifying results in aspecific order and within a specific number of hands.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein said maximum number of differentqualifying results in a specific order and within a specific number ofhands, could mean six (6) different qualifying results in order fromlowest to highest within six (6) consecutive hands or rounds of play inthe following order, seventeen (17), followed by eighteen (18), followedby nineteen (19), followed by twenty (20), followed by twenty-one (21)followed by a Blackjack (a two-card twenty-one); or It could mean six(6) different qualifying results in order from highest to lowest withinsix (6) consecutive hands or rounds of play in the following order, andBlackjack (a two-card twenty-one), followed by twenty-one (21), followedby twenty (20), followed by nineteen (19), followed by eighteen (18)followed by seventeen (17).
 11. The method according to claim 1, whereinsaid method, may be performed by a dealer on a felt based casino tablegame, be performed as part of a video gaming machine, be performed by anelectronic gaming platform and tracking system, be performed inconjunction with a computer or be performed in connection with theInternet or internet gaming.
 12. The method according to claim 1,wherein said receiving a first wager from a player to play standardblackjack against the dealer, is not required by the player allowing theplayer to play the secondary game alone if desired.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein said allowing the player to play thesecondary game alone, may require the dealer to deal the player handusing standard casino Blackjack house ways to guide the proper dealingof the player hand.